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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

D. E. YOUNG & W. F. LITTELL. INDICATOR LOOK.

No. 483,092. Patented Sept. 20, 1892.

[1! II/ I I M I I ya; I lvflmwow l Snow/whoa 6 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

DEWVITT E. YOUNG AND WILLIAM F. LITTELL, OF \VELLSVILLE, COLORADO,ASSIGNORS, BY MESN E ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE LITTELL INDICATOR LOOK AND OARSEAL COMPANY.

INDICATOR-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,092, datedSeptember 20, 1892. Application filed September 14, 1891- Serial No.405,707. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DEWITT E. YOUNG and WILLIAM F. LITTELL, citizens ofthe United States of America, residing at Wellsville, in the county ofFremont and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Lock-Movem ent Indicating Mechanism; and we do declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the fig ures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

Our inventionrelates to improvements in that class of locks known asindicator-locks; and the object of the invention is to indicate whetherthe lock has been manipulated by any one except the proper parties.

The invention will be fully understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings in connection with the description hereinafter given.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the device, shown inconnection with a simple form of locking-bolt, the top plate of thecasing being removed. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the mechanismpartially in section, the section being taken on the line 5c 00, Fig. 1,thus removing one of the indicating disks or wheels and itsactuating-dog to permit better illustration of the working parts. Fig. 3illustrates the location of the mechanism to one side of the car-doorand between the inner and outer walls forming the sides of the car. Fig.4 is an enlarged plan view in detail illustrating the indicating-disksand their actuating mechanism. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of themainspring and its auxiliary attachment for depressing the dogs.

Similar reference characters indicating corresponding parts or elementsin the several Views, let the numeral 5 designate the bottom plate, 6the top plate, and 7 and 8 the end plates, respectively, of the casinginclosing the mechanism.

Supported by standards 9 9, having their lower extremities secured tothe base-plate, is a simple form of lock 12, accessible by the use of akey 10, inserted through a suitable opening 11. By the use of this keythe locking-bolt 13 is reciprocated. End plate 7 is provided with asuitable opening, through which the bolt protrudes when driven to thelocking position.

Secured to suitable supports 14: 14, having their lower extremities madefast to the baseplate, is a spindle 15, upon which are mounted at asuitable distance apart two rotating toothed disks or wheels 16 16, eachprovided with a flange 17, having the outer face of its peripheryprovided with suitable characters, as letters or figures, either singleor combined to form numbers or words. The outer teeth of the disksproject beyond the flanges 17 to permit the engagement of a transverseblade or thin bar 18, carried by a bell-crank locking-lever 19,fulcrumed at 20 upon a support 21, secured to the base-plate. The outerextremity of one arm of lever 19 is supported and pivoted upon a pin 23,connecting a lug or projection 22, made fast to bolt 13, with oneextremity of a bar 24: extending therefrom toward end plate 8 and lyingbetween wheels 16. The opening in the arm of lever 19, through which pin23 passes, must be somewhat elongated or enlarged, so as to permit thelever-arm to move independently of the other connected parts, since anypoint in said arm moves in the arc of a circle whose center is thefulcrum of the lever, while the parts 22 and 24C move in a planeapproximating the horizontal or parallel with that in which bolt 13reciprocates.

Rigidly secured to base-plate 5, as. shown at 25, and projecting upwardin a vertical plane lying between the two wheels 16, is a leaf-spring26, )referably formed of steel and provided with a slot 27 near itsupper extremity, through which bar 2% extends. The outer extremity ofthis last-named bar is received within a guide-slot 30, formed in thetop of standard 28. This bar as it reciprocates is held to positionwithin this guide-slot by a leaf-spring 29, secured at one extremity tothe bar and engaging the upper extremity of slot 27.

Just below slot 27 of spring 26 is secured a stirrup-plate 31, carryingtwo dogs 32, pivoted thereon, as shown, at 33. The free extremities ofthese dogs engage ratchet-teeth 35, formed around the hubs of wheels 16.These dogs are connected by a pin 36, the extremities of which arerigidly secured thereto, causing the dogs to move together or in unison5 at all times. These dogs are held in engagement with teeth by means ofa spring 37, secured at one extremity to spring 26 and pressing downwardupon pin 36 between the two dogs.

Bar 24 is provided with a notch or shoulder 38, which engages spring 26beneath its slot and forces the spring toward end 8 of the casing untilit is released from engagement with the bar, when it immediately re- 15turns and rotates the wheels through the medium of the dogs acting onthe ratchet-teeth 35. The top plate 6 of the casing is provided with anouter keyhole directly in line with the opening 11, formed in the lock-20 casing. Plate 6 is further provided with a slot 41, coveredunderneath by a transparent plate 42 and outwardly protected by a hingedplate 43, which may be easily raised when it is necessary to inspect theflanged periph- 2 5 eries 17 of wheels 16, carrying the charactersheretofore referred to. 1

The application of the mechanism to a cardoor lock is illustrated inFig. 3, in which is a sliding door provided with a hasp 46, 3o hinged at47. The door jamb or post 48 is provided with a metal plate 49, and thejamb is provided with an opening 50, through which the hasp passes, whenthe door is closed to the position shown in the figure, engaging end 3 5plate 7 of the casing, the hasp being provided with an opening throughwhich the bolt 13 passes when it is thrust outward to lock the door. Theslot 41 is so located that it lies directly in front of wheels 16,extending across 0 their peripheries and being of sufficient width toexpose one character on each flange 17 of the wheels.

\Vhen the door is locked by the proper person, said person makes a noteof the exposed 45 numbers. Then if the door is unlocked those numberswill be changed, and though it may be relocked the original numbers willnot appear.

From the foregoing description the operation of the mechanism will befully understood.

Assuming that the parts occupy the relative positions shown in Fig. 2,the operation is as follows: As the bolt 13 is withdrawn by turningthekey, the bar 24 is thrown forward, disengaging bar 18 from the wheels,then thrusting spring 26 to the right and turning the wheels in the samedirection by virtue of the engagement of dogs 32 with ratchets 35.

Spring 26 continues to move in this direction until released fromshoulder 38. It will be observed that shoulder 38 moves in a plane,while the engaging part of spring 26 moves downward in the are of acircle. Hence from the time bar 24 engages the spring and begins toforce it toward the right bar 24 gradually rises in the slot until thespring is released from the bar, when its sudden recoil, acting on thedogs, drives the wheels forward beyond the position they originallyoccupied, since their momentum causes the ratchet-teeth 35 to slip underthe engaging extremities of the dogs after the latter have reached theirextreme limit of movementtoward the left. The strength of spring 37 isso regulated as to permit this.

It is not necessary that the two wheels should move in unison beyondtheir original position. Indeed it is not likely that they will ever dothis. The one essential point, however, is that the movement of thewheels toward the left shall be such as to change the numbers exposed atthe slot 41 every time the bolt is withdrawn, and this will alwaysoccur.

It will be observed that when the bolt 13 is in the locking positionthere is a small space between shoulder 38 and spring 20. The object ofthis space is to permit bar 24 to move forward sufficiently to unlockthe wheels 16 through the medium of the bellcrank levers before engagingthe spring, since the wheels should begin to move simultaneously withthe springs movement. This backward movement of the wheels is not,however, essential, since if the wheels remained stationary the dogswould simply slip over the teeth 35 as the spring 26 moved toward theleft; yet as the wheels must be released or unlocked before the recoilof the spring it is thought preferable to unlock them as soon as themovement of the bolt begins or before the bar 24 begins to act on spring26.

It will be understood that there maybe any desired number of charactersupon the flanged periphery 17 of each wheel, so that the number ofpossible variations in the sets of characters exposed to view throughslot 41 is practically unlimited.

It may be well to state that we do not wish to limit ourselves to theexact mechanism shown and described, since we are aware that manydifferent forms of construction may be employed to carry out ourprinciple, which consists, essentially, of indicating mechanism actuatedby a lock for the purpose stated.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. In anindicator-lock, the combination, with a locking mechanism, of rotatingindi cating mechanism loosely mounted and having no definite limit toits forward. movement, a spring carrying dogs engaging a notched rackformed on said indicating mechanism, and a bar connecting the springwith the lock, whereby as the lock is actuated the spring is placedunder tension and suddenly released, acting on the indicating mechanismthrough the medium of the dogs, substantially as described.

2. In an indicator-lock, the combination, with the locking mechanism, ofrotating indicating mechanism provided with exposed characters, saidmechanism being loosely mounted and having no definite limit to its IIOforward movement,an actuating-spring carryinga dog engaging theindicating mechanism, and a bar connecting said spring with the lock,whereby as the lock is operated the spring is placed under tension andsuddenly released, acting on the indicating mechanism through the mediumof the dogs, substantially as described.

3. In an indicator-lock, the combination, with the locking mechanism, ofthe rotating indicating mechanism, a spring acting on said mechanism, abar connecting the lock with the spring, and a bell-crank locking-leverconnected with said bar and adapted to engage the indicating mechanism,the connection between these parts being such that as the lock isoperated the locking-lever is released from engagement with theindicating mechanism and the spring placed under tension and released,substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a locking-bolt, of a plural number ofindependently-rotating disks provided with exposed characters, a spring,a bar connecting the bolt with the spring, and dogs connecting thespring with the disks, whereby as the bolt is manipulated the disks aresubjected to an uncontrolled or chance adj ustment, substantiallyasdescribed.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

DEl/VITT E. YOUNG. lVILLlAM F. LITTELL.

Vitnesses:

WM. MoCoNNnLL, G. J. ROLLANDET.

